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neighborhood. He related that the owner of Lane Forest Products would be willing to stop using mulch- blowing trucks if his competition did not use them either and Eugene had more mulch-blowing trucks per capita than any other city in the world. He said that peace and quiet were being sacrificed for convenience and thanked the council for agreeing to Councilor Betty Taylor’s request for a work session. Hugh Pritchard , 2671 Emerald, Eugene, encouraged the council to initiate a code amendment for the Downtown Zoning District. He said the current code had a number of unintended consequences that were an impediment to downtown development. He said new buildings in the core area were required to meet a floor-to-area ratio (FAR) of 2.0, commonly believed to mean a two-story building; when the language actually stated a building should be not less than two square feet of floor area to one square foot of the development site. He pointed out a number of existing downtown buildings that could not be built under the current code. He said a similar situation existed on south Willamette Street with an FAR requirement of 1.0; few existing buildings could meet that requirement. He said the issue had not arisen because no new building permit for those areas had been applied for and the code was untested. He said the intent was to densify consistent with the council’s goals, which he supported, but the reality was that new buildings could not be built with the current FAR requirements. Charles Biggs, 540 Antelope Way, Eugene, spoke to multi-unit property tax exemptions (MUPTE) and the approval process. He said he had experienced difficulties attempting to review the files, including lack of information and timeliness of receipt of that information. He questioned why public comments were not included in an agenda packet and cautioned the council to make sure that all attachments were included. Kevin Matthews, PO Box 1588, Eugene, president of Friends of Eugene, expressed dismay at the evolution of the City Hall master planning process. He referred to the council’s recent decision not to renovate the existing building and noted the consulting contract for the planning process was over $1 million. He pointed out that hundreds of citizens participated and felt the City Hall process was turning into the same thing as Whole Foods because there had been no comprehensive public presentation about renovating the current City Hall and professionals in the community had not been afforded the opportunity to examine the basis for estimated project costs compiled by the consultant. Mayor Piercy closed the Public Forum and called for council comments. Councilor Papé thanked Mr. Rea for taking the time to convey the appreciation of residents along Clinton Drive. Councilor Taylor thanked everyone who spoke. She noted that a work session on the noise ordinance was scheduled for August 16, 2006, and hoped staff would provide information about controlling mulch- blowing trucks and other technology. Councilor Kelly also thanked Mr. Rea and the Clinton Drive residents. He said the council had discussed at its work session ways to address the backlog of pavement preservation projects. He agreed with Mr. Hale’s remarks that increasing the gas tax was preferable to a transportation system maintenance fee. He had not heard any serious suggestion to exercise eminent domain in the Fairmount neighborhood. MINUTES—Eugene City Council July 24, 2006 Page 2 Regular Meeting